U.S. Sen. John McCain unloaded on President Donald Trump on Saturday after Trump appeared to take the word of Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence officials regarding last year's election interference.

"There's nothing ‘America First’ about taking the word of a KGB colonel over that of the American intelligence community," McCain continued. "There's no ‘principled realism’ in cooperating with Russia to prop up the murderous (Bashar) Assad regime, which remains the greatest obstacle to a political solution that would bring an end to the bloodshed in Syria. Vladimir Putin does not have America's interests at heart. To believe otherwise is not only naive but also places our national security at risk.”

In Veterans Day remarks to the traveling White House press corps en route to Hanoi, Trump appeared to accept Putin's reiteration in a recent conversation that Russia "absolutely did not meddle in our election," adding that "I can't stand there and argue with him."

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President Trump shakes hand with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte during the gala dinner marking ASEAN's 50th anniversary in Manila, Philippines, Nov. 12, 2017. Trump is in Philippines on the final stop of his Asian tour. Trump and Duterte will hold more formal talks on Monday. Pool photo by Athit Perawongmetha

A protester is hit by a water canon as activists are dispersed by police while trying to get near the U.S. Embassy in Manila, Philippines on Nov. 12, 2017. The group is protesting against the visit of President Trump. Aaron Favila, AP

President Donald Trump, shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putinas, Friday, they pose for a group photo ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit leaders gala dinner in the central Vietnamese city of Danang. Mikhail Klimentyev, AFP/Getty Images

President Trump (C) walks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin (centre L) and Vietnams President Tran Dai Quang (centre R) before taking part in the "family photo" during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in the central Vietnamese city of Danang.
World leaders and senior business figures gathered in the Vietnamese city of Danang this week for the annual 21-member APEC summit. HANDOUT, AFP/Getty Images

President Trump boards Air Force One at Danang International Airport in Danang, Vietnam, Saturday, to travel to Hanoi, Vietnam. President Trump says the United States will no longer join large trade agreements, but instead will pursue one-on-one deals with nations that pledge allegiance to fair and reciprocal trade. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. He says sweeping trade agreements "tie our hands, surrender our sovereignty and make meaningful enforcement practically impossible. Andrew Harnik, AP

Vietnamese people gather in front of Hanoi Opera House as the convoy transporting U.S. President Donald Trump passes by on Nov. 11, 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam. President Trump, visited Hanoi after taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted by Vietnam this year. Linh Pham, Getty Images

Protesters push their way through a phalanx of riot police a day ahead of President Trump's arrival on Nov. 11, 2017, in Manila, Philippines. Protestors from left-wing groups chanted anti-U.S. slogans as Trump was set to visit to the Philippines for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, marking the last leg of his 12 day, five-country Asian tour. Jes Aznar, Getty Images

President Trump comforts Vietnam veteran Max Morgan of Santa Clarita, Calif. as he becomes emotional while speaking at a veterans event at the Grand Hyatt, in Danang, Vietnam, Nov. 10, 2017. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Andrew Harnik, AP

President Donald Trump attends a bilateral meeting with China's President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping put their professed friendship to the test on November 9 as the least popular US president in decades and the newly empowered Chinese leader met for tough talks on trade and North Korea. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

U.S. first lady Melania Trump and China's first lady Peng Liyuan, second left, paint the eyes onto panda figures in a calligraphy class during a visit to Banchang Primary School in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. Pool photo by Greg Baker

US First Lady Melania Trump and China's First Lady Peng Liyuan are surrounded by students after a cultural performance during a visit to Banchang Primary School in Beijing, China on Nov. 9, 2017. Pool photo by Greg Baker

President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping attend at a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People on November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China. Trump is on a 10-day trip to Asia. Pool photo by Thomas Peter, Getty Images

President Trump gestures toward China's President Xi Jinping as First Lady Melania and Xi's wife Peng Liyuan look on at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Nov. 9, 2017.
JIM WATSON, AFP/Getty Images

First Lady Melania Trump, left, and Peng Liyuan, wife of China's President Xi Jinping, attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017. Fred Dufour, AFP/Getty Images

The car carrying President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump passes by the Tiananmen gate tower on the way to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Nov. 9, 2017. Wu Hong, EPA-EFE

Children wave Chinese and USA flags and hold flowers as they wait for the welcome ceremony for US President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Nov. 9, 2017. Trump is on an official visit to China from Nov. 8 to 10 as part of his 12-day tour of Asia. Roman Pilipey, EPA-EFE

President Donald Trump, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, pose for a photo as they tour the Forbidden City, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Beijing, China. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ORG XMIT: TKSK323 Andrew Harnik, AP

Children wave flags as President Trump arrives at the Beijing Airport Nov. 8, 2017. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Andrew Harnik, AP

President Trump and first lady Melania arrive with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his wife Peng Liyuan, for an opera performance at the Forbidden City, Nov. 8, 2017, in Beijing. Trump is on a five-country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Andrew Harnik, AP

Donald Trump (R) addresses the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
Trump's marathon Asia tour moves to South Korea, another key ally in the struggle with nuclear-armed North Korea, but one with deep reservations about the US president's strategy for dealing with the crisis. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

Members of "No Trump Coalition," left, clash with pro-U.S. protesters as they wait for the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday. Ahn Young-joon, AP

President Donald Trump arrives with First Lady Melania Trump before he speaks at the South Korean National Assembly, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, in Seoul, South Korea. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Andrew Harnik, AP

Members of "No Trump Coalition," right, clash with pro-U.S. protesters as they wait for the arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump in front of the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday. Ahn Young-joon, AP

The President sits in his presidential limo as Chief of Staff John Kelly, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, both at center, try to wait out a bad weather call at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. Marine One turned back because of a bad weather call just minutes away from visiting the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the tense military border between the two Koreas. Andrew Harnik, AP

Reporters look up at hazy sky after presidential helicopters returned President Donald Trump to U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017, because of a bad weather call just minutes away from visiting the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the tense military border between the two Koreas. Andrew Harnik, AP

Melania Trump is a smiles as she receives a painting of her and President Trump drawn by a child at an event at Cheong Wa Dae (Blue House executive office) in Seoul, South Korea,on Tuesday. Yonhap, EPA-EFE

President Trump holds a glass as South Korea's President Moon Jae-In talks to First Lady Melania during a state dinner at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Nov. 7, 2017.
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The convoy of President Donald Trump makes its way towards the presidential Blue House through Gwanghwamun square in central in Seoul Nov. 7, 2017.
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President Trump waits for the First Lady as they board Air Force One prior to departing from Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Tuesday..
Trump's marathon Asia tour moves to South Korea, another key ally in the struggle with nuclear-armed North Korea, but one with deep reservations about the US president's strategy for dealing with the crisis. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

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President Trump embraces Lee Yong-soo, a former 'comfort woman' who was forced into sexual slavery by Japan's military during World War II, at a state banquet hosted by South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, South Korea, Nov. 7, 2017. Yonhap, European Pressphoto Agency

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe feed fish in a koi pond at the Akasaka Palace, Nov. 6, 2017, in Tokyo. Trump is on a five country trip through Asia traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. Andrew Harnik, AP

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea in Tokyo Nov. 6, 2017. They are, from left in front row, Hitomi Soga, Shigeo Iizuka, Abe's wife Akie, Abe, Trump, U.S. first lady Melania, Sakie Yokota and Akihiro Arimura. Kimimasa Mayama, POOL

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pose after they signed hats reading "Donald and Shinzo, Make Alliance Even Greater" at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Kawagoe, near Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 5, 2017. President Trump arrived Sunday in Japan on a five-nation trip to Asia, his second extended foreign trip since taking office and his first to Asia. Pool photo by Franck Robichon

President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, front left, return in a golf cart after playing a round of golf at the Kasumigaseki Country Club Golf Course in Kawagoe outside Tokyo on Nov. 5, 2017. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

First lady Melania Trump, and her Japanese counterpart Akie Abe, third from right, listen to sales manager Hajime Fukuju, left, during their visit Nov. 5, 2017, to Mikimoto Ginza Main Store, Japan's pearl jewelry maker, at the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo. Shizuo Kambayashi, AP

President Trump, center, salutes, with first lady Melania Trump, top right, uoon arrival at the U.S. Yokota Air Base. On his first to Asia, Trump will visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and Philippines for summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Eugene Hoshiko, AP

The President is helped putting on his Commander in Chief jacket upon arriving at the US Yokota Air Base. Trump touched down in Japan, kicking off the first leg of a high-stakes Asia tour set to be dominated by soaring tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea. Toshifumi Kitamura, AFP/Getty Images

Air Force One, with U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump onboard, arrives at the U.S. Yokota Air Base, on the outskirts of Tokyo, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017. President Trump arrives to begin a five-nation trip to Asia, his second extended foreign trip since taking office and his first to Asia. Eugene Hoshiko, AP

Trump indicated that he wants to build a better U.S.-Russia relationship that, he said, would help in dealing with the Syrian civil war, the ongoing Ukraine crisis and with North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship.

"Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that,' " Trump said of Putin. "And I believe — I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it. But he says, 'I didn't do that.' I think he's very insulted by it, if you want to know the truth."

Trump, in turn, insulted former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former FBI Director James Comey — who Trump fired earlier this year — for concluding that Russia did try to interfere in his 2016 race against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"They're political hacks," Trump, who has been traveling throughout Asia, told reporters on Air Force One. "... I mean, you have Brennan, you have Clapper, and you have Comey. Comey is proven now to be a liar and he's proven to be a leaker."

Several hours later, Trump was asked about the interpretation by McCain and others that he believed Putin's denial on the election-interference issue.

"What I said there is that I believe he believes that, and that's very important for somebody to believe," Trump clarified. "I believe that he feels that he and Russia did not meddle in the election. As to whether I believe it or not, I'm with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with their leadership. I believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. I've worked with them very strongly."

McCain and Putin have long had a hostile relationship.

Putin officially censured McCain in 2014.

Earlier this year, McCain decried a May 10 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whom he called "the stooge of a thug and a murderer." McCain called the meeting a propaganda coup for Putin.